Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) was established by an Act of Parliament (The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Act 2013) under the Ministry of Education. It was the predecessor of the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE). The institute is mandated to deal with the matter of curriculum from early child education through primary, secondary, and TVET institutions.
This means the only education sector not under the KICD is the university curriculum. However, through the TVET Act, the TVET institute curriculums have also been moved from the KICD to TVET CDACC.
KICD’s headquarters is located in Nairobi along Muranga Road.
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KICD functions and roles
As per the KICD Act of 2013, these are the functions that the institute is mandated to carry out in Kenya.
- Advises the Government on matters pertaining to curriculum development.
- Evaluate, vet, and approve, for application in Kenya, any local and foreign curricula and curriculum support materials in relation to the levels of education and training” referred to in (4 below).
- Implement the policies relating to curriculum development in basic and tertiary education and training.
- Develop, review, and approve programs, curricula, and curriculum support materials that meet international standards for:
- Early childhood care, development, and education.
- Pre-primary education.
- Primary education.
- Secondary education.
- Adult, continuing, and non-formal education.
- Teacher education and training.
- Special needs education.
- Technical and vocational education and training.
- Initiate and conduct research to inform curriculum policies, review, and development.
- Collect document and catalogue information on curricula, curriculum support materials, and innovations to create a data bank and disseminate the information to educational institutions, learners, and other relevant organizations.
- Print, publish, and disseminate information relating to curricula for basic and tertiary education and training.
- Collaborate with other individuals and institutions in organizing and conducting professional development programs for teachers, teacher trainers, quality assurance and standards officers, and other officers involved in education and training on curriculum programs and materials.
- Develop disseminate and transmit programs and curriculum support materials through mass media, electronic learning, distance learning, and any other mode of delivering education and training programs and materials.
- Promote equity and access to quality curricula and curriculum support materials.
- Promote appropriate utilization of technology to enhance innovations and achievement of a knowledge-based economy.
- Offer consultancy services in basic and tertiary education and training.
- Incorporate national values, talent development, and leadership values in curriculum development.
- Receive, consider, develop, and review curriculum proposals.
- Perform such other function as may be assigned to it under this Act or any other written law.
KICD curriculum design cycle
One of the key functions of the institute is to design a new curriculum and evaluate the effectiveness of the current then advise the government on the same.
Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development has a development cycle of 8 steps that they use. The 8 steps include:
Need assessment survey
The institute carries out a needs assessment to determine if there is a need for a review of the current curriculum. For example, in the new CBC curriculum being implemented, there was an assessment that resulted in the overhaul of the old 8.4.4 to the CBC.
At this level, the institute involves the general public and education stakeholders for their views on the need for change.
Policy formulation
After the need for change has been determined they advise the government of the day to align the national education goals with the new need. This makes the changes to the government agenda to ensure it will be funded and to legalize the changes.
Curriculum design
With the policy in place now the design can start by determining the scope, general objective of the subjects, and topics for each subject.
Syllabi and curriculum materials development
After determining what should be in each level, subject, and topic the syllabi are then developed. With the syllabi now the materials that will be used to implement the curriculum are developed.
These can include learner and teacher guides, subject textbooks, and learning manuals among other relevant materials for implementation.
Curriculum implementers training
With syllabi and materials for training ready, the next step is to train those who will implement the curriculum. This includes training the classroom teacher, the school management, the quality check officer, and other education stakeholders for a smooth transition.
The training can go together with syllabi and material development by involving the same group of people to develop.
Piloting the new curriculum
Before the new system can be implemented on a large scale it is first tested in a few selected schools. This helps the government and KICD to identify teething issues and rectify them before it is rolled out country-wide.
The pilot schools should be sampled to represent all areas and diversity within the country. Any issues that arise are addressed at this level and in case of any change in the syllabi, training materials are sorted.
National wide implementation
After the pilot phase is done successfully and any arising issues are dealt with the curriculum can be rolled out to all schools. Before this public and all education stakeholders are sensitized to the new changes to reduce resistance.
The syllabi and learning materials are distributed to schools for implementation. Classroom teachers are continuously trained and upcoming challenges are handled as the implementation continues.
Monitoring and evaluation.
The implementation is monitored to ensure it meets the national education goals as per the policy. Any issues that need to be dealt with are recorded and factored in the review of syllabi.
The monitoring and evaluation continue through the period the curriculum is implemented to meet emerging trends in the world.